Fun filled Saturday

Saturday we went for a long walk. Gym time is getting difficult to manage so Becky and I are trying to get a good exercise walk in on the weekend. It was a beautiful morning. We stopped for a while on the Common and Ally wanted to play on the cannons.

After a walk home, more park time and a nap it was off to a play date at the 3rd park for the day with Alice.

Snack time - Ally looks so full of attitude here.

And now she is laughing at Alice making silly faces instead of looking at the camera.

They really enjoyed climbing up the slide and sliding back down again. I had to tuck Ally's dress in b/c she kept walking on it on her way up the slide.

After the play date Becky and Ally and I went out to dinner. It was a great meal at our favorite seafood place. Ally was wonderful - I think the promise of ice cream after dinner helped. But we actually did one of the kid's menu/place mat activities:

What is your favorite:

Color: Green (I think she was kidding here, because we all know its pink and she was giggling so much)

Song: Twinkle (twinkle little star, Becky and I thought it would be Pio -and we asked Ally but she said no it was twinkle)

Book: Toy Story (I thought it would be Harold and the Purple Crayon or Pinkalicous)

Movie: Toy Story

Animal: Lion (we thought it would be gorilla and Ally said she also really likes to see the lions at the zoo)

Thing to do: Go to the park

Toy: Special Kitty

It was pretty cute and fun. But the most hilarious thing was that at one point during dinner Ally said (to me) "Mommy I love you" then she looked and Becky and said "Mama...you're good at eating." I thought Becky and I were going to choke trying so hard not to laugh.

Final Florida

It really was a wonderful vacation. I hope we can go every year.

Playing in the courtyard

Yummy cupcakes

A favorite memory of mine was Ally dancing on the bed. There is a huge mirror mounted on the wall opposite the king bed. Ally loved to dance on the bed and watch herself in the mirror. She created a new move where she would bend her knee and opposite elbow and shake them - it was absolutely hilarious. The more we laughed the more she loved it.

Jungle Gardens

Is it a bird? a plane? No its...

A giant turtle and an alligator!

While in Sarasota we visited the Jungle Gardens. It was pretty fun.

Lots of flamingos

The highlight was feeding the flamingos - yes we fed flamingos and ducks and geese!

Ally thought it was pretty neat.

She even held out her hand for them to eat out of.

After feeding the flamingos we saw the alligator show, played at small playground, ate our picnic lunch and fed the fish. For my family - the fish pond was just like it used to be in Leisure World - we bought fish food and could feed the giant white, orange spotted goldfish and big catfish. It brought back memories of my childhood.

But at Ally's request we fed the flamingos again - here she is getting food from the machine with Becky.

Becky thought it was cool too.

our family feeding the flamingos

Now is where this blog becomes The Life of Barb for the following photo sequence:

For the record, my mom, Grandma Barbie was very into getting to Jungle Gardens - she thought feeding the flamingos sounded very nifty. She is after all who planned a trip to swim with the manatees several years ago. I think in another life she was a zoologist.

At first she wasn't sure what she thought of the bird up close.

Then it got closer.

So Barb fed the bird and Ally watched

Then 2 birds came to eat from her hands

But soon there were 3 birds

which meant 2 hands to hold food in

Then the food was gone and she beamed in delight.

One thing I love about this picture (beside the huge smile on my mom's face) is that it shows how large the flamingos were as compared to Ally. It was really amazing how tall these creatures really are.

Thanks mom for a wonderful vacation and for encouraging us to go to the Jungle Gardens and creating these nifty memories for us.

Florida recap

I am finally getting around to completing my blog entries about our February trip to Florida. 2 months late - but better late than never - so be prepared for flashback posts this week!

My mom took us to a new place for dinner - it was for the birds! Literally - they were almost sitting at the table with us.

Ally was a bit surprised.

My mom was not too thrilled

with this one staring down at her while she ate.

It was a fabulous meal and might be our new favorite place.

Stylish

We had a birthday party to go to last weekend and it was beautiful weather so we pulled out last year's dresses and they still fit! They do need leggings or bike shorts b/c Ally is much taller now than last summer, but over all the fit is great! The bubble wrap was a party game - brilliant for 3 year olds.

Feeling very fortunate

A couple years ago - we were very fortunate to find 4 other families close by who all have daughters born in Guatemala. The girls are all within 6 months of each other and we get together about 10 times a year for a play group. Its something that is really important to Becky and I - to create this support and play group for Ally. Thank-you to Roxie, Alice, Rosa and Gabi and your moms and families for joining with us in our Guat Girls Group.

Climbing the tire wall

Ally might not be the most elegant climber but she has certainly mastered her system for climbing the tire wall at the park.

pull up

to a standing position

do a split

pull up again

to a standing position

do a split again

pull up

to a standing position

usually she would then climb to the platform but Thora came running to play and climb up too.

Its so much fun to play at the park with friends! Ally and Thora even tried moving along on monkey bars all by themselves!

Future Gymnast?

I recently was able to capture Ally doing her favorite "trick" on the climbing structure at school. When its a nice day I let her play outside on the playground for a while before we start the 30 minute walk home.

Shimmy-ing her way across the ledge

checking to make sure no one else gets on the ledge while she is there

look at me mommy!

swinging - Yes she grabs onto the bar and swings

and loves it.

When she started this trick it was in the fall and she was pretty focused on it. Now she does it so quick and confidently. Its still amazing to watch her glee and enjoyment out of it.

Becky and I are thinking about gymnastics for her, but not so sure we are ready for that commitment of class and such. We'll see.